The Repsol Foundation and the Sylvestris Group have launched a new afforestation and carbon sequestration project in Barranco de Madriros, in the municipality of Monchique, in the Faro district. Developed under the New Forest Plantations (MVC1) methodology, this is already the second project by the partnership to be registered and validated on the Portuguese Voluntary Carbon Market platform, five months after the registration of the first project, covering 18.83 hectares, in Sabugal, as announced in a press release.
According to the same source, the Barranco de Madriros afforestation and carbon sequestration project covers an area of 13.28 hectares and estimates the removal of about 1,911 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent over 40 years, corresponding to an average of 144 tonnes per hectare. The initial estimate of carbon credits was calculated based on the MVC1 methodology, following technical criteria of prudence, additionality, and permanence. The removed carbon should remain stored securely for at least four decades.
The initiative sits within the new legal framework of the Portuguese Voluntary Carbon Market, which marks a new phase in the development of these projects in the country. The registration of Barranco de Madriros thus reinforces the positioning of the Repsol Foundation and the Sylvestris Group as pioneering entities in a developing market.
In addition to carbon capture, the project has a territorial dimension, by transforming non-forested land into new forest patches and generating benefits associated with soil protection against erosion, the strengthening of landscape resilience, and the reduction of wildfire risk in a zone considered vulnerable. The intervention relies on species such as maritime pine and the strawberry tree, combining forest restoration, carbon sequestration, and soil stabilization.
The Monchique project also reinforces one of the central ideas of the Green Engine + Forest: forest restoration goes beyond carbon. The intervention also contributes to biodiversity, soil and water protection, landscape enhancement, and territorial resilience, and it can create conditions to stimulate local economic activity in rural areas. This vision reflects the approach that the Repsol Foundation and the Sylvestris Group have been developing in Portugal and Spain.
